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Monday, July 15, 2013

As life is prone to do, it has thrown me an unexpected curveball. Two months ago my dear husband suffered a stroke. At first we thought it was a mild stroke, but I’m not sure there is such a thing. The rose garden looks utterly abandoned, because there is no time for anything else.

Today I wrote the first post to a new blog about the stroke. It's meant to be a help to someone out there who is walking in my shoes, and I'm trusting that they find it. Click the “Strokes happen” tab below the top banner if you think it would be of interest to you or someone you know. Or, if perchance the tab isn't clickable (grrr), here's the link to Strokes happen. Someday I’ll get back to the roses that have proven themselves to be truly care-free and weed-proof. I foresee several posts on garden renovation.

I hope all of your gardens are bearing up well in the various excessive heat, excessive rain, excessive drought conditions that are out there this year. I miss you all and will be back as soon as I can. To those who believe in prayer, Tom and I are in great need of God’s grace and strength. Thank you all so much.

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Welcome, rosey friends!

There is much to share and much to learn about growing roses well and chemical free in hot and humid Florida. I dearly hope some of you will make the leap to growing the roses that I love even though they may be different from the ones you know. Tag along, join in, let's get to know each other and especially let's get to know Old Garden Roses. I believe I am and you'll be happier gardeners for having done so.

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Latitude & Longitude : Where I'm At

29° 21' N / 82° 07' W

About Me

Without roses how would I have learned the depth of patience and persistence that is peculiar to the garden? How would I have known the sense of accomplishment that came from nurturing these roses and their other plant friends so that they could grow and thrive and be called a garden? On second thought perhaps it's been the other way around, and the roses have been nurturing the gardener. The new wrinkle in my life is the stroke suffered by my darling husband on May 18, 2013, putting the garden on hold and sending us down the proverbial rabbit hole. Life is full of twists and turns, isn't it?

The Lord God planted a garden In the first white days of the world; And placed there an angel warden, In a garment of light unfurled. So near to the peace of heaven, The hawk might nest with the wren; For there, in the cool of the even, God walked with the first of men.

And I dream that these garden closes, With their shade and their sun-flecked sod, And their lilies and bowers of roses Were laid by the hand of God. The kiss of the sun for pardon, The song of the birds for mirth, One is nearer God's Heart in a garden Than anywhere else on earth.

Gardener's Blessing

Ralph Emerson Purkhiser

May God grant thee Enough sun to warm the earth, Enough rain to make things grow, A good strong back, A wide brimmed hat, And a good sharp goose-neck hoe, Strength for a day of toil And some quiet evening hours, With a sip of tea And a gentle breeze, And may all your weeds be wildflowers.